plumber
Americannoun
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a person who installs and repairs piping, fixtures, appliances, and appurtenances in connection with the water supply, drainage systems, etc., both in and out of buildings.
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Slang. an undercover operative or spy hired to detect or stop leaks of news or secret information, often using questionable or illegal methods, as illegal entry or wiretapping.
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Obsolete. a worker in lead or similar metals.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of plumber
1375–1425; 1965–70 plumber for def. 2; late Middle English, spelling variant of Middle English plowber ≪ Late Latin plumbārius leadworker; replacing Middle English plummer < Anglo-French; Old French plummier < Latin, as above. See plumb, -er 2
Explanation
A plumber is someone whose job includes fixing pipes and installing water and sewage systems. If your kitchen sink is clogged, a plumber is the person to call. Plumbers's work ranges from relatively simple tasks like repairing toilets and removing clogs from drains, to much more complicated jobs including replacing all the old corroded pipes in a bathroom floor with new ones. The word plumber has been around since ancient Rome, when a plumber was "anyone who works with lead," and lead was a common material for pipes, baths, drains, and conduits. Fixing anything made of lead (which included roofs) made someone a plumber back then.
Vocabulary lists containing plumber
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The plumber was sent to a fearsome maximum-security prison in Eswatini -- formerly known as Swaziland -- where he is still being held without charge a year later.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Nigel Farage's party was running high in the polls at the start of the campaign, but Robert Kenyon, a plumber and Reform councillor, ending up in second place with 15,696 votes.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Reform candidate Kenyon, a self-employed plumber who became a councillor in England's May local elections, had stood in the constituency in the 2024 general election, coming second to Labour.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
But local plumber Kenyon's campaign was dogged by past offensive remarks about women, while the fringe hard-right Restore Britain party dented Reform's vote by snagging nearly 7 percent of returns.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
With his pliers, the plumber twisted the inner workings of the lock.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Shortages of everything from electricians and plumbers to gas turbines and memory chips have driven up the cost of building new centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Nationwide, employers are struggling to fill around 160 types of jobs, ranging from careworkers to plumbers, according to the FEA.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
The industry has successfully consolidated similar segments including heating and air-conditioning businesses, plumbers, roofers and pest-control companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Newman: The State Building and Construction Trades Council of California and a long roster of various trades locals representing such crafts as sheet metal and air conditioning, plumbers and electrical workers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
After Strong described at dinner one evening his experiences supervising the carpenters, plumbers, and electricians building his house, Lawrence drove him up the hill to the Rad Lab site.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
